Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of CMC Markets vs City Index, we will compare the trading platforms, mobile apps, range of investments, costs, market research, and more. Let's dive in.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 51% and 89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
When comparing online brokers CMC Markets and City Index, both have established strong credibility in the financial market, with high trust scores of 99 out of 99 as per ForexBrokers.com. CMC Markets, founded in 1989, and City Index, dating back to 1983, are both publicly traded, offering transparency and reliability to investors. Neither is a bank, yet both have secured multiple licenses, ensuring compliance with top-tier regulatory standards worldwide.
CMC Markets holds five Tier-1 licenses, indicating it is highly trusted, along with one Tier-2 license. City Index surpasses this with seven Tier-1 licenses and one Tier-2 license, showcasing its global reach and respected status. The reliability and regulatory oversight of both brokers make them appealing choices for anyone looking to engage in online trading with peace of mind.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
City Index
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1989 | 1983 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes | Yes |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 5 | 7 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 1 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 0 | 1 |
When it comes to evaluating online brokers for their commissions and fees, CMC Markets stands out with a superior ranking and highly competitive pricing. Recognized as the number one broker in this category by ForexBrokers.com, CMC Markets scores a full 5-star rating for its consistently low spreads. For instance, the typical spread on the EUR/USD is recorded at just 0.61 pips as observed in August 2023. The broker also offers an active trader program through its Price Plus Scheme, which awards discounts based on trading volumes. Additionally, its FX Active pricing model introduces a commission structure that still maintains competitive spreads, ensuring that traders enjoy minimized trading costs.
In comparison, City Index secures a commendable position with a 4.5-star rating, ranking 14th among 63 brokers reviewed by ForexBrokers.com. While its pricing generally aligns with the industry average, City Index offers several account types, including the Premium Trader account, which provides exclusive features for active traders. The average spread on the EUR/USD for City Index is slightly higher at 0.74 pips as of July 2023. Though it provides rebates for both U.K. and Australian markets, these offerings still place City Index just behind the top brokers like Tickmill and FP Markets in terms of competitive pricing.
Overall, CMC Markets excels with its lower spreads and versatile pricing models, making it a preferred choice for traders focusing on costs. Meanwhile, City Index provides dependable pricing that matches the industry standard, supplemented by valuable account enhancements and rebates for higher trading volumes. As a result, CMC Markets offers a distinct advantage for those prioritizing low trading costs, whereas City Index offers a solid alternative with additional perks for active traders.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
City Index
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | £100.00 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.61 | 1.4 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.51 | 0.74 |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | Yes |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | Yes | Yes |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | No |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes | Yes |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.
When comparing CMC Markets and City Index, both platforms provide expansive options for forex trading, offering it as both a CFD and a spot contract. CMC Markets stands out with a substantial library of 11,925 tradeable symbols, while City Index slightly surpasses it with 13,500 symbols. In terms of forex pairs, CMC Markets offers an impressive 156, providing forex enthusiasts with a wider selection than City Index, which offers 66 pairs.
Notably, CMC Markets allows users to directly purchase exchange-traded securities on both U.S. and international exchanges, such as shares of Apple and Vodafone. In contrast, City Index does not offer this capability. Both brokers support copy trading, allowing clients to mimic successful trades. For those interested in cryptocurrencies, neither broker offers the ability to purchase actual digital coins, but they do provide crypto derivatives. Both CMC Markets and City Index are rated five stars for their investment range; however, in ForexBrokers.com rankings, City Index slightly edges out CMC Markets, holding the eighth position compared to CMC Market's ninth.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
City Index
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 11925 | 13500 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 156 | 66 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | No | No |
| Cryptocurrency (Derivative) | Yes | Yes |
| Disclaimers | Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). | Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). |
Dive deeper: Best Copy Trading Platforms.
CMC Markets and City Index both offer traders a comprehensive suite of trading platforms and tools. Each provides access to proprietary platforms developed in-house, along with a Windows-based desktop download and a web-based trading platform, ensuring flexibility and convenience for users. Additionally, both brokers support MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and offer paper trading through free demo accounts, allowing users to practice without risk. While City Index does not provide access to MetaTrader 5 (MT5), users can engage in copy trading on both platforms, although neither broker supports DupliTrade or ZuluTrade.
In terms of charting tools, City Index offers significantly more with 239 drawing tools compared to CMC Markets' offering of 40, though both brokers allow direct trading from stock charts. For watch lists, each platform supports 11 columns to customize trading data views. CMC Markets stands out slightly with a 5-star rating in Trading Platforms and Tools and ranks 4th among 63 brokers as evaluated by ForexBrokers.com, while City Index holds a commendable 4.5-star rating and ranks 11th. These metrics suggest that while both platforms excel, traders may find a marginally more robust feature set with CMC Markets.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
City Index
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | No |
| DupliTrade | No | No |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 79 | 88 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 40 | 239 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 11 | 11 |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
When choosing between CMC Markets and City Index for mobile trading, both brokers offer comprehensive apps for iPhone and Android users. These apps are equipped with features like stock and forex price alerts, as well as the capability to sync watchlists with your online account, ensuring seamless transitions between platforms. If technical analysis is a priority, City Index leads with 88 technical studies compared to CMC Markets’ 29. Both apps support drawing trendlines and accessing multiple time frames on charts while automatically saving these drawings, ensuring traders have the tools they need for precise analysis. Real-time quote watchlists are also available in both apps, helping users stay updated with market movements.
While both platforms provide stellar mobile trading experiences, CMC Markets takes the edge with a perfect 5-star rating compared to City Index's 4.5 stars. According to ForexBrokers.com, CMC is ranked 5th among 63 brokers for its mobile trading apps, whereas City Index holds the 9th position. This ranking may sway those seeking top-tier app performance, especially if comprehensive technical analysis isn't as crucial. Overall, both brokers offer reliable mobile platforms, but CMC Markets slightly outshines due to its higher rating and ranking.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
City Index
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 29 | 88 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
When comparing CMC Markets and City Index, both brokers provide daily market commentary and offer forex news from top-tier sources like Bloomberg and Reuters, ensuring traders are kept up-to-date with critical market insights. CMC Markets edges out with a five-star research rating by including tools from Autochartist, which City Index lacks. In contrast, City Index incorporates Trading Central tools, allowing for diverse technical analytics and research options. Both brokers offer sentiment-based trading tools and maintain economic calendars to highlight essential global news events, facilitating informed trading decisions.
Despite these common features, CMC Markets holds a slight lead, ranking sixth out of sixty-three brokers for its research capabilities, compared to City Index, which ranks tenth. This higher rating is indicative of CMC Markets' ability to offer a more comprehensive suite of research tools and data, making it a preferred choice for traders who value extensive market research support. While neither broker utilizes resources from TipRanks or Acuity Trading, CMC Markets' inclusion of Autochartist tools gives it a competitive advantage in technical analysis offerings.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
City Index
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes |
| Autochartist | Yes | No |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | Yes |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | Yes |
| TipRanks | No | No |
| Signal Centre (Acuity Trading) | No | No |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
When comparing the educational resources for beginners offered by CMC Markets and City Index, both platforms provide a wide range of learning materials focused on forex and CFDs. You can find over 10 educational pieces such as articles, videos, and webinars on both brokers, ensuring a comprehensive learning experience. Both platforms also offer a searchable archive of previously recorded webinars and over 10 beginner-focused trading videos, making it easier for new traders to find the information they need. Additionally, each offers a glossary with more than 50 investing terms, helping beginners get to grips with essential jargon.
However, City Index has a slight edge for those who prefer live interaction, as it hosts at least one educational webinar each month. CMC Markets doesn't offer this, which might be a downside for beginners looking for regular live training. Both CMC Markets and City Index provide over 10 advanced educational videos for experienced traders, ensuring long-term learning opportunities. Despite City Index's high-quality offerings, CMC Markets is rated 5 stars for education, slightly edging out City Index's 4.5-star rating, even though City Index holds a higher rank (#9) compared to CMC Markets (#10) among 63 brokers in the ForexBrokers.com education category. Overall, both platforms are excellent choices for educational resources, catering well to both novice and experienced traders.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
City Index
|
|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars | No | Yes |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.
After testing 63 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that CMC Markets is better than City Index. CMC Markets finished with an overall rank of #4, while City Index finished with an overall rank of #8.
CMC Markets is well-trusted across the globe, and delivers a terrific trading experience thanks to its excellent pricing and selection of over 12,000 tradeable instruments.
| Feature |
CMC Markets
|
City Index
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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| Trust Score | 99 | 99 |
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Both CMC Markets and City Index do not offer the option to buy actual, delivered cryptocurrency, but they do provide the ability to trade cryptocurrency derivatives.
Both CMC Markets and City Index provide flexible funding options including ACH/SEPA transfers, PayPal, and Visa/Mastercard, alongside bank wire transfers, though neither platform supports Skrill for account deposits or withdrawals.
Please note:
We review each broker’s overall global offering – a “Yes” checkmark in our Compare Tool does not guarantee the availability of any specific features in your country of residence. To verify the availability of any features within your country of residence, please contact the broker directly.
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0 of 5| Overall Rating | CMC Markets | City Index | |
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| Trust Score | 99 | 99 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | CMC Markets Review | City Index Review |
| Broker Screenshots | CMC Markets | City Index | |
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| Regulation | CMC Markets | City Index | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 99 | 99 | |
| Year Founded | 1989 | 1983 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes | Yes | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 5 | 7 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 1 | 1 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 0 | 1 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | CMC Markets | City Index | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Japan (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Singapore (MAS Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | No | No | |
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | CMC Markets | City Index | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | No | No | |
| UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) | No | No |
| Investments | CMC Markets | City Index | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 11925 | 13500 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 156 | 66 | |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No | |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | No | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | No | No | |
| Cryptocurrency (Derivative) | Yes | Yes | |
| Disclaimers | Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). | Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). |
| Cost | CMC Markets | City Index | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.61 | 1.4 | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.51 | 0.74 | |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | Yes | |
| Inactivity Fee | Yes | Yes | |
| Execution: Agency Broker | No | No | |
| Execution: Market Maker | Yes | Yes |
| Funding | CMC Markets | City Index | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | £100.00 | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | No | |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes | Yes | |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | Yes | Yes |
| Trading Platforms | CMC Markets | City Index | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | No | |
| cTrader | No | No | |
| DupliTrade | No | No | |
| ZuluTrade | No | No |
| Trading Tools | CMC Markets | City Index | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 11 | 11 | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 79 | 88 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 40 | 239 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | CMC Markets | City Index | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 29 | 88 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Research | CMC Markets | City Index | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | |
| Autochartist | Yes | No | |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | No | Yes | |
| TipRanks | No | No | |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | Yes | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | CMC Markets | City Index | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | No | Yes | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
| Major Forex Pairs | CMC Markets | City Index | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GBP/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/JPY | Yes | Yes | |
| EUR/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CHF | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CAD | Yes | Yes | |
| NZD/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| AUD/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| Review | CMC Markets Review | City Index Review |
| Overall | CMC Markets | City Index | |
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| Trust Score | 99 | 99 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | CMC Markets Review | City Index Review |
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